Rangers’ John Fleck out for six weeks
Scottish Premier League champions Rangers have been dealt a blow ahead of the new season kicking off with the news that midfielder John Fleck has been ruled out of action for six weeks. The 18-year-old suffered a tear to his hamstring in a pre-season friendly game against Clyde.
Initially, it was suspected that Fleck would face two weeks on the sidelines after sustaining an injury in the first half of the 2-1 victory over the Scottish Third Division club. But further tests revealed that the injury was much more severe and the youngster looks to be out of action until the end of September. That time frame suggests that Fleck will miss up to six games in the SPL as well as the first fixtures in the UEFA Champions League.
Depleted squad
With manager Walter Smith already working with a much-depleted squad after six players left Ibrox for new clubs in the close season, the news was disappointing and frustrating to the Glasgow club.
Smith said on his club’s official website that: "Unfortunately John will miss maybe six weeks with his hamstring injury, or at least up to that anyway. Hopefully we can get him back a little bit quicker but we're looking at six weeks at the present moment. That's a blow to him because he had started the season well and he has been playing well in the pre-season games he has had."
Fleck, who has been tipped to become an important player for both club and country, made the breakthrough to the Rangers first team in January 2008 as he played in his first competitive match against East Stirling in the Scottish Cup. In May that year, he became the youngest player to have featured in a cup final in Britain, as he appeared as a substitute at the age of 16 against Queen Of The South in the Scottish Cup final. He has made 36 appearances in total for Rangers and has scored three senior goals.
Fleck has also featured for Scotland at various age levels and has earned three caps for the Under-21 side.
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